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Super Typhoon Soulik (2019)
Typhoon Soulik, also known as Super Typhoon Angeline in the Philippines was a very deadly cyclone that struck Southern Luzon, particularly, the Bicol region in the late winter/early spring part of 2019. The typhoon took a hybrid course of Typhoon Angela and Typhoon Koppu, and many consider it a stronger version of Angela. Soulik formed from a large cloud cluster, and developed from a Tropical Depression into a Typhoon in just 100 hours. Soulik became one of the strongest tropical cyclones to strike the Philippines in January. Soulik lasted for 28 days, just 3 days short of Hurricane John's record of 31 days. Soulik intensified into a category 5 shortly before entering the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR). It was initially forecasted to hit the Aurora region, however, the cyclone instead moved a westerly path instead. A lot of people in Central Luzon, Southern Luzon and Northern Visayas were left with no power, houses, and trees were uprooted. Throughout its devastating journey through Central and Southern Luzon, the powerful typhoon barely weakened but instead maintained its strength and even intensified as it made it's way throughout Central and Southern Luzon. Meterological History On January 8, 2019, the JTWC started monitoring a weak tropical disturbance 500 km east of Chuuk, The JMA upgraded the low pressure area to a Tropical Depression the following day. The JTWC issued a TCFA 6 hours later, and upgraded the low pressure area into a depression 6 hours later, designating it as 01W. Due to the wind and sea conditions, the disturbance moved west very slowly, and slowly intensified. The following day, the JMA reported that 01W has intensified into a tropical storm, naming it Soulik. The storm continued intensifying, and intensified into a Severe Tropical Storm 36 hours later. The JTWC upgraded the storm into a Typhoon on January 14, 2019 at 0600 UTC. while the JMA followed suit a few hours later. Soulik later entered an extremely favorable condition of sea surfaces at 35 degress celsius and with 3 km/h of wind shear, causing Soulik to intensify into a Category 4 Super Typhoon in just 36 hours. Soulik later continued moving westward, and on January 17, 2019, the JTWC upgraded Soulik into a Category 5, and the JMA upgraded Soulik into a Violent Typhoon. The following day, with Soulik's winds increasing to 300 km/h (10-min sustained), the typhoon entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility, it was originally going to be named Amang, but was later renamed Angeline to prevent associating it with the storm that disrupted Pope Francis' visit to the Philippines. Soulik was later located within a favorable environment for further development, with low vertical wind shear and sea surface temperatures of 40 °C causing further intensification and as Soulik apporached land, the JMA estimated it's winds at 350 km/h, and 24 hours before landfall, most of Luzon, and some parts of Northern Visayas are already feeling the brunt of the storm. During the late night hours of January 22, 2019, the JTWC estimated Soulik's winds at 400 km/h, and as Soulik continued moving west slowly, Metro Manila, Region III, Southern Tagalog and CALABARZON, are starting to feel super typhoon force winds of 220 km/h. On January 23, 2019, at 6:00 AM PHT, Typhoon Soulik made landfall in Quezon at peak intensity, Soulik continued moving west and on January 24, 2019, at 11:11 PM PHT, made it's second landfall in Metro Manila, maintaining it's intensity, and on March 26, 2019 at 12:34 PM PHT, made landfall in Bataan with the JTWC estimating it's winds at 380 km/h (236 mph, 205 knots), and the JMA estimating it's winds at 365 km/h (200 mph, 197 knots). Soulik exited Philippine landmass at 11:00 PM PHT on January 27, 2019. At the time of the exit, the JTWC estimated Soulik's winds at 300 km/h (186 mph, 162 knots) (10-min). Soulik slightly reintensified as it moved out of PAGASA's area of Responsibility on January 29, 2019. On January 31, 2019, Soulik made landfall in Fujian Province, China as a Category 5, before turning east, and on February 3, 2019, Soulik made landfall in Taipei, as a weakening Category 4, and weakened into a Category 1 on February 5, 2019, and the JTWC issued it's final advisory it became extratropical the following day, however the JMA continued tracking Soulik as a tropical depression until February 7, 2019, when it finally dissipated on the late night hours of the same day. Preparations In preparation for the typhoon, more than 2,700,000 residents over Luzon were evacuted. In most of Central Luzon, all classes were suspended when PAGASA raised all of Region III under Signal #2. A no-sail zone was placed across most of Luzon, Many flights were cancelled in Regions III and CALABARZON. immediately when signals were raised. As Soulik (Angeline) neared Quezon provinces, PAGASA raised the entire Region III, Region IV and NCR under Signal #5. Ferry services across most Southern Luzon and the northern part of Visayas were suspended when Signal #5 was raised in those areas. Offices were closed when the aforementioned areas were placed under Signal #4, while malls were closed when the signals were upgraded to #5. Impact Typhoon Soulik, locally known as "Angeline" caused extremely devastating and catastrophic damage over various Central and Southern Luzon islands. Residents over Central Luzon and Southern Luzon were left without power or communications over the entire week, however Catanduanes, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Burias Island, Ticao Island, Marinduque, Metro Manila and Quezon had no power or telecommunications for more than 2 weeks. Strong winds toppled down posts, uprooted trees and billboards. A house that had it's roof blown, had all of it's residents killed due to excessive flooding, Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur had a 10.0 m (32.8 ft) high storm surge which decimated the regions and left many people perished or missing. Powerful winds battered the entire CALABARZON region leaving a massive amount of people dead, injured or missing. A house in Pasig had sank leading to all people dying due to the massive storm surge. As a result, many dead bodies were found in the streets lying. Aftermath Right after the typhoon exited Philippine landmass, the Philippine Red Cross estimated that 98,765 people have died, while the people listed in the Google Person Finder was estimated at 1,234,567. Although officially, there were only 987,654 people being affected. Naming The typhoon was originally going to be called Amang by PAGASA, however, the typhoon's name was changed to Angeline due to a typhoon with the same PAGASA name which disrupted Pope Francis' visit to the Philippines. The typhoon is named after Filipino singer-actress Angeline Quinto. Due to the excessive damage, the name Soulik was retired at the Eight Joint Session of the ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee and WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones during 2020. The name Winipat was chosen to replace Soulik. PAGASA announced that the name Angeline, would be retired from its naming lists after it had caused over ₱1 billion in damages. PAGASA chose the name Alexa to replace Angeline for the 2023 season. Category:Super Typhoons Category:PAGASA Category:Typhoons Category:Cornerstone Divas Category:Deadly storms Category:Costly storms Category:Record storms